Chapter 4

"The cigarettes you light one after another won't help you forget her."

― Frank Sinatra

"Your first assignment." It was Wednesday morning and Carlos was waiting for Jack outside the building where his office was, a folder in his hand. He held it out, his face oddly blank as Jack took it and opened it up. All that was in there was a photograph and a short form with her first name and the reason a private investigator was needed.

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Beth. Husband believes she's cheatin' on him." He met Carlos' gaze, "That's it?"

Carlos shrugged nonchalantly, "Sí, mi amigo. Sometimes I start with less information than that."

It was a test, Jack could tell by the way Carlos used Spanish in front of him. He was testing his mettle on a case. "What kinda proof do I need?" He asked, wondering if Carlos would even tell him that much.

The Spaniard waved his hand in the air, "Whatever you can get. A name of the man she's having an affair with, an address where you know for a fact she's in there having sex with another man." He met Jack's eyes, "But if you send her husband into that address and she's playing poker with some women, you better believe we won't get paid and you'll be out of a job."

Jack sighed and rubbed his eyebrow as he studied the photograph. The woman's hair was a dark mass of curls, wild and untamed. Her eyes were light and seemed not to be focused on anything in particular. He tried to decide where to start first before he realized Carlos was just standing there watching him. "Alright." He said, decisively, nodding at the man, "See ya latah."

He almost thought about going to see one of the guys, but he thought it unlikely they would know this woman. Why didn't Carlos give him somewhere to start? All investigating couldn't be this broad and undefined. There had to be more to it than this measly folder.

Then, as if by fate, she walked right passed Jack.

Jack did a double take between the woman and the photograph, sure it was her and quickly he changed directions and began to follow her. As he watched her weave through the crowd, tapping a cane in front of her, he realized that she was blind. She was also dressed in trousers, which was strange, but since she was blind he was sure no one would comment about it to her face.

A strange feeling creeped into his gut. This lack of information, a blind woman to follow, it was all too easy. It was definitely a test. But, why with such an easy person? A blind woman, who couldn't possibly know she was being followed. Yet, for a blind woman, she moved quick, barreling down the street as though she wasn't blind and Jack watched as people jumped out of her way, dodging the cane she used and staring after her with mouths wide open.

She obviously didn't notice, or care, and she walked for a long time. She seemed to know exactly where she was headed and he followed her all the way to a bar in the Bronx.

A bar that was familiar to him. He'd been here the second day of being back in New York City, with Race when he'd gone to confront the gang leader that had kidnapped Scott's sister.

He paused across the street as she took the stairs into Keenan's bar, three men outside that she barked a few words to before she went inside. He missed the words that were said from where he was but whatever it was, it caused the men to all straighten and gaze up and down the street, looking for a threat.

It no longer felt like a test, this felt like a set-up. Why was a blind woman going to see a gang? Could she be sleeping with one of the men? Blink had told him the gang was being run by Barkers' daughter, perhaps she was visiting to talk with her?

Suddenly, the men were all looking at him and then they were headed his way. He put on a pleasant smile, not yet ready to run from his first assignment, and waited for them to reach him. They all arranged themselves with the shortest one up front, a skinny, medium-sized one in the middle, with a big, hulking wall of a man taking up the rear. The first two Jack thought he could take, but the big guy? Not likely.

"Can we help you?" The smaller of the three sneered up at Jack, the glimmer of brass knuckles on his right hand catching the late morning sun.

Jack relaxed his muscles and shrugged, "Don't suppose you guys know Beth there, huh?"

The skinny, greasy haired guy that was just behind the smaller one chuckled unpleasantly, "'Course we know Beth. Everyone here knows Beth."

They all laughed lewdly and Jack shoved his hands in his pocket and laughed lightly with them. Which made them stop laughing and looked at him with narrowed eyes. The short one, the talker, sized Jack up, "You lookin' ta know Beth?" He asked, stepping into Jack's space.

Jack shrugged, looking over their shoulder at the bar across the way, "If you guys are lookin' ta introduce me." He said, nonchalantly.

"Lefty," The short one said to the middle one, "Let's show Casanova here, inta see Beth." Lefty's laughter turned dark as the wall of a man narrowed his eye on Jack and grabbed him by the arm.

"Don't squirm." Lefty told Jack, "Finn here is rather protective of Beth. Best not make any sudden moves, he'll tear ya arm off."

Jack winced at the manhandling and he met the man's dark eyes and saw a glimmer of something in their depths that he couldn't quite identify before he was all but dragged into the bar that he had only ever been in once before.

They pulled him through the bar area, passed the tables and chairs that were empty, and then opened a door towards the back with steps to the basement. Lefty and the short guy chuckled and whispered behind him as the big man silently pulled him along.

A loud, feminine voice traveled up the steps and only grew louder as they got closer. Jack felt a strange feeling, like a noose tightening around his neck, as the large man dragged him across the basement and stopped right in front of the blind woman, where she perched on an elevated throne-like chair, her cane leaning against the arm. A startlingly familiar cane. Despite the danger that trickled down his spine, his eyes caught on it for a moment, taking in the detail of the golden tip and the ebony wood. The familiarity eased him just a touch because all though it was strange to see it in another's possession, it was funny to see it attracted the toughest people.

The man she had been scolding stood and moved out of the way as Finn brought him forward. "Beth." The man said, his voice more of a rumble than anything but with the slightest Irish lilt to it, "Ya stalker is here."

Somehow, Beth appeared regal as a Queen. "Well, well, well." She drawled, eyes narrowing, "Do you realize who you've been following, Mr. Kelly?"

Finn let go of his arm and stepped back, but the Bronx Gang closed in to watch, preventing any chance of escape. "I do now." He said, feeling less charismatic than he'd ever felt before. Had Carlos purposely set him up to get beat down by a gang? He knew there were reasons for Carlos not to like him, but to go this far felt entirely too extreme.

"Would you like to inform me as to why you were following me?" Beth asked, her voice cold and controlled.

Think of something, his brain yelled, but he couldn't betray Carlos and he couldn't tell her the real reason he was sent on this crazy assignment. But, if he didn't think of anything, there was a very good chance he wasn't walking out of here alive and the thought of Hazel being abandoned a third time hurt too much for him to even dwell on. So, he straightened and tried to bullshit his way out, "Well, that's actually a funny story, Beth."

"It always is." She said, voice as dry as a desert.

He nodded, although he knew she couldn't see it, and continued on as if they were merely chatting about the weather, "Ya see, I'm a single fathah and my daughtah doesn't have a whole lot of female role models in her life. So, I was out foah a stroll when ya walked past me and I thought, my little girl could learn a thing or two from her." He tried to look embarrassed, tried to infuse it into his words as he added, "Imagine my luck that the woman I followed happened ta be the feared Bronx Gang leadah. I feel down right mortified I didn't realize it soonah."

Jack hid his surprise as she let out a cackle, "Tommy left the gang for this piece of work?" She called the words out in a specific direction, pointing it to her left, and to his utter amazement, Carlos strolled out of the depths of the dark basement and leaned leisurely against Beth's throne.

"He left for entirely different reasons, but he's a tad attached to Jack here." Carlos said, a slight smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Nice touch with the single father bit. That might have worked on Beth here." He added.

The Cowboy scowled, "Not really 'a bit'." He said, able to relax now that it was out that this was what he originally thought it to be, "So, did I pass ya test?"

Carlos appraised Jack silently for a few moments before Beth spoke, "You passed my test. I could do without the flattery, but if I heard that story without the knowledge I had, I'd be right impressed."

Finn sidled up beside her, "She's gotta soft spot for single dads." He told Jack, his gaze turning soft when he looked at her.

Carlos grinned, "Jack Kelly, meet Beth and Brendon Finnegan." He moved to Jack's side, "You passed the test. You're still on a probationary period, but I'm pleased with your choice of bullshit stories. Most people don't speak highly of your loyalty." His blue eyes sharpened like a knife as they clashed with Jack's gaze, "But, I'm going to expect complete allegiance and confidentiality about everything we do from here on out."

"Feel free to tell Tommy, though. He'll get a kick out of this." Beth butted in, a small smirk pulling up the corner of her mouth and Jack felt his own, answering grin.

She was right. Friday night, as they all stood in the lobby before taking their seats for the first show of Les million de 'Arlequin, Jack recounted his first assignment to the whole group-minus David who had wandered off. Blink laughed so hard, he had tears coming down his eyes as Katy shook her head at his reaction.

"They didn't scare him nearly as much as I hoped." Carlos added when Jack had finished his story.

Blink, his face pressed to Mush's shoulder as he laughed, pulled away from his best friend and rubbed the tears from his face, "Still, ya gotta admit it was pretty funny." He then proceeded to mimic Jack's single father story to Beth in an over-dramatic manner, causing everyone to laugh and Jack to roll his eyes good-naturedly.

Until the lights dimmed to signal the show was about to start. Jack took Hazel's hand in his and followed everyone inside, him and Hazel sitting between Race and Blink. Just as the show was about to start, Jack caught David hurrying to take his seat beside Vivian, who whispered a question to him as he sat down beside her. He shushed her in David-fashion before they all turned to give the show their whole attention.

He had been thinking of Sweets all week, often her image stayed in the background of his thoughts particularly when he made her laugh in the carriage, and the way she looked sleeping in the light of the setting moon just before he woke her to tell her good bye. It had been hard to leave her even then, when they were little more than strangers. Now, even as he tried to forget her face and enjoy the show, he seemed to see her everywhere. Especially when the seventh scene of the play began and the Good Fairy came onto the stage.

Her blonde hair was pinned up, the make-up heavy and dramatic for the comedy combined with a mask that glittered with 'fairy dust' that was for her character alone. Jack sat up straight in his seat, his eyes zeroing in on the curve of her neck, on the shape of her body that he was intimately familiar with as she danced around the stage. It was Sweets, there was no doubt about it.

Quickly, he pulled the program out of his pocket and squinted in the dimness of the stage lights to make out the name of the ballerina playing the Good Fairy. Natalia Malakhov.

He knew that name. It was one Carlos had mentioned a few times, the ballerina whose room had been broken into. The Prima Ballerina's roommate, the best friend of the woman Sophie told Jack that David was clearly smitten with. He sat back and suddenly found himself mesmerized by her performance as she smiled and danced around, giving Harlequin the means to marry Columbine with her father's permission.

Natalia.

"Don't put your happiness in other people's hands.
They'll drop it.
They'll drop it every time."

-C. Barzak

She had seen Jack. Of all the places to see him, she couldn't believe it had been in the lobby of their opening night performance. He had looked spectacular, too. His clothes weren't of the richest quality, but they were modest and fitting on him. He'd devastated her very senses when she caught sight of him, standing with a large group of other well-dressed individuals as they laughed uproariously before the show.

"C'mon, Talia." One of the younger girls' whispered to her. They had snuck out from back stage and were looking down on the lobby from two floors up, trying to see how big a crowd their opening night would be.

The show was sold out. The lobby was packed with people, but Natalia had instantly spied her scarred, handsome man. He was so tall, dreamy, and debonair. Even next to men more refined. He flicked his hair from his eyes a few times, and teased the kids that were among their group. She hadn't suspected for a moment they were his kids.

Her happiness of him there carried her through the show. The dancing was more fun and exhilarating knowing that he was watching. She wondered if he'd recognize her through all of her makeup. She hoped so, because she wasn't sure if she had given him her name. Couldn't remember him calling her by anything other than 'sweets'.

With that in mind, she decided she would surprise him after the show. Maybe catch him before he left the theater.

After the red velvet curtain fell down, she slipped from the crowd of ballerinas to see the theater goers exit the auditorium, watching as they mingled in the lobby before heading out into the night air. She craned her neck to find Jack and his crowd, and she was sure one of the kids that had been in their group, a little girl, nearly ran into her before bolting off. Natalia followed her, stopping to thank people as they congratulated her on her performance.

She froze when she saw him, standing there with his back against the wall, talking to the little girl as she gazed up at him adoringly before she sat down in front of him to play with a boy around her age. Jack's attention was then caught by a lovely blonde woman, who leaned one shoulder against the wall and spoke soft words to him, making him smile as they both turned to gaze down at the children with such tender gazes.

All the air whooshed from Natalia's lungs, her gut dropping at the perfect family they made. The boy's dark, brown hair near the same shade as Jack's, as the little girl's golden hair matched her mother's. They were exquisite, perfect, and Natalia had probably wrecked it all.

She stumbled back a step before she turned and fled away from it all. She felt sick with hurt, grief, and guilt over seducing a married man. Self-hatred boiled in her veins as she pushed through the crowd, her mind slowly building into a rage at herself and him.

How could he? Biting the inside of her cheek, she forced herself hang onto the anger, the betrayal and hurt, until she made it to Nina's dressing room.

She stormed into the room, throwing the door shut behind her as she began to curse everyone and everything. Nina looked taken aback for a split second before she comprehended Natalia's angry rant.

"Did you sleep with another married man, Nat?" Her friend asked, gently. Her blue eyes filled with sympathy and pity. Natalia hated when she pitied her, but she didn't blame her. This wasn't the first time, unfortunately.

That realization zapped the angry from Natalia and an overwhelming sadness swam over her as her shoulders sagged and she looked bleakly at her friend and nodded.

Nina crossed the small space in barely a full step and wrapped her arms around Natalia, tall enough so that the blonde's face fit right in the crook of her neck. "What have I told you about wearing your heart on your sleeve?" Nina murmured to her.

A few tears escaped as Natalia realized she'd done it again, "Not to." She mumbled against her friend. "But, he wasn't my usual type. I thought he was different. He said he was different…" She trailed off, reaching the conclusion that she was an absolute idiot.

"That's what all men say." Nina told her, tone practical as she stroked Natalia's hair soothingly.

She didn't deserve to be comforted, she decided, and she pulled away to give Nina a sad, half-smile, "Maybe next time I won't fall for it."

Nina reached out and gently squeezed her arm, "Go, have fun at the cast party. I'm going to head home."

Natalia forced herself to grin as she glanced around at all of the flowers in the dressing room, "I'll have one of the Benjamin boys bring your flowers to the room. That way they don't clog up your dressing area."

She watched her friend look around in surprise at all of the flowers sent by admirers and well-wishers. After the surprise wore off, she looked annoyed as she replied, "Thanks…maybe tell them to keep them to decorate the lobby. Just collect the notes off the arrangements."

"Yes, m'am…" She paused and quickly hugged Nina one more time as she said, "You did great tonight."

Nina lightly squeezed Natalia and responded graciously, "Thank you, you were wonderful as well. The best Good Fairy ever."

They left the room together and Natalia watched as Nina continued out of the theater, turning in the direction of the carriages that would take her back to the hotel. They were quite the pair, the two of them. Nina was so closed off, rarely giving anything away and yet, she hoped someone would see her for who she was.

Natalia, on the other hand, gave too much of herself away to everyone until she was left alone and exhausted, wondering why no one stayed.

She crossed the stage to Nikolai, reaching out for his drink and downing it in one gulp. Maybe one day, they'd find a happy medium or they'd end up as old maids together. In either case, Natalia wanted to drink away the memory of Jack's face.

A/N: Thank yous and love to my reviewers, WordyAF, my guest (santafe?), and coveredinbees! I love you guys! And if you wanna see more of Beth, go read the Firewatcher's Daughter by WordyAF!

Review and let me know what you think of this chapter!

Truly,

Joker is Poker with a J~